Philosophy

COOKING IS A MEANS OF SELF EXPRESSION

Flexibility is the key. All ingredients are interchangeable. With almost any recipe, Leslie Cerier substitutes fruits and vegetables by color, flavor, seasonal availability, texture, cooking times, the weather, and what Leslie has in stock. When Leslie teaches, she loves to encourage people to personalize their menus--whether you have food allergies, crave variety, love to stretch your culinary capabilities, or simply wish to add novelty, cooking can be a creative--and fun--game of mix and match. Reinventing your favorite recipes helps keep them interesting, appealing, and enjoyable.

LOCAL INGREDIENTS

Cooking with the seasons encourages novice and seasoned cooks alike to follow their instincts and get wildly creative with the bounty of the season. Plus, the freshest, local organic produce is also the most nutritious.

One of Leslie's key cooking mantras is "let the local organic produce of the season guide the recipe." Leslie's enthusiasm for creating new recipes and preparing menus, whether for her family, catering clients, or cooking classes, has always been inspired by the local harvest. For instance, in August, the farms and markets near Leslie's home in western Massachusetts are filled with a multitude of tomato varieties, sweet bell and chili peppers, crunchy string beans, cucumbers, sweet baby carrots, beets, and a wealth of salad greens: baby red kale, arugula, green and red leaf lettuces, mustard greens, tat soi and mizuna (Asian leafy green vegetables similar to spinach). Also available are fresh herbs like oregano, garlic, chives, mint, basil, cilantro, sage, rosemary, tarragon, parsley, and thyme. Simultaneously harvested, these vegetables and herbs become the natural choices to "mix and match" for adding a flavorful spark to savory salads, dressings, quiches, scrambled tofu, sushi rice rolls, pasta, and bean dishes.

SEASONAL COOKING

The sight of the season's first zucchini or plump shiny eggplant always inspires her to fire up the grill. Along with ingredient availability, the weather is another factor that affects how and what she cooks. When it's hot outside, she avoids using the stove as much as possible, so outdoor grilling is a welcome and sensible alternative. Quick-grilled vegetables and tofu, refreshing fruit smoothies, and marinated land and sea vegetable salads made with combinations of ingredients like corn, grains, and berries are refreshingly cool--perfect warm-weather fare. To beat the heat, she bakes fruit pies and cook beans and grains in the early morning or at night, when the house is cool.

Come fall, hearty collard greens, spinach, leeks, celery, broccoli, red and green cabbages, parsnips, celeriac, garlic, cilantro, apples, and pears become her kitchen staples. After the first frost, hearty leafy kale is her green of choice, and winter squash varieties like acorn, delicata and butternut take the spotlight in many of my meals. On cold winter days, Leslie's kitchen is host to slow-simmering soups, garlicky roasted vegetables, and spicy stews that are thick with potatoes, winter squash, carrots, and yams.

WHEAT-FREE, GLUTEN-FREE BAKING FOR VARIETY

Leslie loves making pies all year long with fillings that reflect the bounty of the season. It might be blueberry, blackberry, peach, or blueberry-peach in the summer; apple, pear, or pear-raspberry in the fall; pumpkin, pumpkin-pecan, or pumpkin-date in the winter, a lemon tart or chocolate mousse in the spring. She also creates variations for the piecrusts themselves. Instead of using only whole-wheat pastry flour, she may use teff flour, spelt flour, or a combination of ground flax seeds and teff flour. Some days, she might use hazelnut butter or almond butter for some of the oil in the piecrust; other times, she bakes with butter instead of oil. She even alters the piecrust by using different sweeteners and flavored extracts such as vanilla, orange, hazelnut, and almond extract. It is the variety that makes the experience-and the results-enjoyable.

Cooking is a celebration of the earth's bounty. So let's celebrate.